US20180127101A1 - Aircraft Galley Chiller System - Google Patents

Abstract

A modular chiller for an aircraft galley trolley compartment disposed below a galley work deck. The modular chiller includes an enclosure for components configured to chill air circulating throughout the trolley compartment. The modular chiller includes a heat exchanger for chilling air entering the enclosure from the trolley compartment through air return ports. The modular chiller includes a fan for directing air flow through the enclosure, wherein a speed of the fan is controllable by a controller thereby causing adjustment in a volume of the air passing through the heat exchanger. The modular chiller includes connection ports configured to couple the modular chiller to one or more aircraft systems, the connection ports including quick disconnect connections for aircraft line replacement units, wherein the plurality of connection ports comprise at least one connection port for supplying liquid refrigerant to the modular chiller.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
• This application is a continuation application, which claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/852,702, filed on Mar. 28, 2013, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/618,526, filed on Mar. 30, 2012; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/852,702 and 61/618,526 are herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
• Large commercial passenger carrying airplanes predominantly employ one of two systems for keeping perishable food stuffs and non-perishable drinks at desired temperatures. Chilling is necessary to preserve perishables and make certain beverages and foods more palatable, especially during long haul and ultra-long haul aircraft journeys. The first method utilizes a standard vapor cycle based air chillers that utilize conventional refrigerant gas compression and expansion technology to generate a secondary re-circulated chilled air loop. The chilled air is generally supplied and returned via thermally insulated air ducting to and from a suitable storage structure, such as a galley. The air chiller may be located on or in the galley or mounted in part of the aircraft airframe.
• The second method utilizes the same conventional refrigerant gas compression and expansion technology, but the cooling medium is a chilled liquid rather than a gas. This chilled liquid is pumped in a closed loop to and from a suitable storage structure such as a galley. The chilled liquid in some cases are configured as a large centralized system for the whole aircraft. In other cases, the chilled liquid can be circulated at each separate aircraft door galley complex to form a local area chilling loop, or be based on each individual galley as a standalone system. At the galley, the liquid is passed via a control valve and electronic control system to a heat exchanger, where an electric axial (or other) fan blows or sucks air through its matrix and around and enclosed areas of the storage structure that requires chilling, for example: a galley cart bay or compartment. The heat exchanger fan and its control system (though not necessarily all) are grouped together to form a chilled air recirculation unit that may be fitted in or on the galley or remotely from it, or the galley complex.
• One drawback of these various chiller systems is that they take up a large percentage of available space in the galley, which is at a premium in an aircraft for obvious reasons. Further, the chillers tend to be very heavy, which is also a drawback to their use on aircraft. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to have a chiller system that takes up less space and reflects a reduction in weight over conventional chiller systems currently in use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
• The present invention is an aircraft chilled air distribution system with a reduced overall foot print and weight. This compact system is particularly suited for an aircraft galley that requires refrigerated or cooled carts or trolleys, and/or standard meal boxes, and/or chilled compartments. The chiller system of the present invention uses a cavity created within the area commonly separating the upper and lower portions of said aircraft galley (known as the work deck area), for the installation of a chilled liquid fed chiller module with integral air distribution ductwork, a thermoelectric device or devices (using the Peltier principle) with integral air distribution ductwork, or an air chiller fed air distribution system.
• The location of the invention plays a useful role in both the galley foot print and weight reduction, as well as the efficient distribution of chilled air around the below work deck installed trolley or cart. The through work deck air path, ductwork and air guiding devices are positioned for the efficient use of the chilled air to meet the certification requirements of the aircraft manufacturers.
• Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate by way of example the operation of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• FIG. 1ais a side view of a chiller module for an aircraft galley beverage cart compartment;
• FIG. 1bis a rear view of the compartment ofFIG. 1a;
• FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines2-2 of the module ofFIG. 1a;
• FIG. 3ais a cross-sectional view of an alternate configuration of a chiller module;
• FIG. 3bis a cross-sectional view of an alternate configuration of a chiller module with a reduced height;
• FIG. 4ais a side view, in cross-section, of the chiller cassette;
• FIG. 4bis a side view, in cross-section, of the components of the chiller cassette;
• FIG. 4cis a side view, in cross-section, of the chiller cassette and components;
• FIG. 4dis a rear view of the chiller cassette;
• FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an alternate chiller component configuration;
• FIG. 6ais a cross-sectional view of a four cart chiller compartment ducting system;
• FIG. 6bis a side view of the chiller compartment ofFIG. 6a;
• FIG. 7ais a front view of an air chiller system supply duct;
• FIG. 7bis a front view of the air chiller return duct;
• FIG. 7care front and plan views of tapered restrictors for the ducting system;
• FIG. 7dis a side view of the chiller ducting system;
• FIG. 8ais a front view of a liquid chiller system duct and manifold; and
• FIG. 8bis a side view of the liquid chiller system in the beverage cart compartment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
• FIGS. 1aand 1billustrate a first preferred layout for the chilled liquid supplied system of the present invention. Acompartment20 below the work deck of an aircraft galley houses abeverage cart25, where the compartment is maintained at a below ambient temperature to keep the cart and its contents chilled. To cool the compartment, above thecart25 is plug and play chillingmodule50 comprising aheat exchanger30 and afan35 arranged in a loadable cassette. Thechiller module50 itself is designed to comply with the requirements of rapid installation and removal of LRU's (line replaceable units) on commercial airplanes, and therefore has the major components grouped together to form a cassette or module that is fitted inside the work deck itself. Installation is carried out from the front or rear of the galley, or from inside the compartment from underneath the work deck.
• FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic of anexemplary chiller module50. Anelectrical connector52 is located at a first end to supply power to thechiller module50, and a refrigerant input/output port54 is located at the same location. The chilled liquid refrigerant and electric power are supplied to thechilling module50 in a preferred embodiment viaquick disconnects52,54, while condensate is drained away at acondensate drain56 in a similar fashion. Connection of these ports can be effected if desired only when themodule50 is installed in thecompartment20. The unit includes a pair ofheat exchangers30 connected to theair return ducts40, and a pair ofcondensate collectors42 capture condensate that forms on the heat exchanger/ducts. Eachheat exchanger30 may be equipped with adefrost fan60, and the output of theheat exchangers30 passes through a convergentair supply duct62 to atubeaxial fan35. Thefan35 forces the chilled air out of thecassette50 throughair supply outlets70 so that the air can be circulated through the compartment and chill thecart25.
• The proportion of chilled liquid required to chill anindividual cart25 compartment is controlled by theproportioning control valves75. Similarly, the volume of air that needs to pass through theheat exchanger30 is controlled by the speed of thefans35, (which may be axial, scroll or other) under the command of the electronic control box85 (or “E-Box”). Sensors (not shown) provide information about the conditions within each chilled compartment to allow individual control as heat load and conditions require.
• The air (represented by arrows90) is blown through a specially designed chilled air outlet in the underside of the module over and around the cart in the chilled cart bay before returning to be re-circulated via a specially designed duct at the back of the chilled cart bay. This outlet hasapertures95 that assist in creating an even air distribution around the cart. The duct is open at the bottom and the air return plenum105 (or duct) mates snugly with the moduleair return port40 in the chiller module when it is installed.
• FIG. 3aillustrates an alternative layout to the chiller module ofFIGS. 1 and 2. As shown inFIG. 3a, the chilling module150 (with its top removed) includes theinterface port140 to the return air plenum (or duct), and theindividual heat exchangers130 disposed at the entrance. The chilled liquid control (PGW distribution)valves175 are located adjacent theheater exchangers130. Poly-glycol water (“PGW”) is a one type of refrigerant that may be used with the module, although other liquid coolants may also be used.
• FIG. 3billustrates yet another alternative layout to the chiller module. The embodiment ofFIG. 3bhas anentrance area400 separates tworeturn air inlets410 that includes electrical, chilled liquid, and condensate drainage components. A three waybypass valve area405 is disposed between twoheat exchangers420, each including areflector425. TheAPAC435 is situated midline flanked by a pair of tubeaxial fans440 andconnected deflectors450. The overall layout of the embodiment ofFIG. 3bresults in a reduced vertical height as compared with other embodiments.
• To assist in the removal of excess condensate, which is a by-product of moist air condensing on theheat exchangers130, angled condensatedrainage collection trays142 are installed below the heat exchangers with outlets in theconnection block180. The air is circulated around the cart bay or chilled compartments by individualaxial fans135 in this configuration, with thesupply outlets170 leading into the chilled cart bay forming an aperture in the base of the chilling module. In this configuration, the E box is located remotely on the galley and not in the chilling module itself.
• The top cover of thecassette150 encloses all the components of the lower part to form the LRU chilling module or cassette. InFIG. 4,FIG. 4bforms the base and cooperates with the component inFIG. 4ato form the complete unit, as shown inFIG. 4c.FIG. 4dshows the rear of thechilling module150 and itsconnection block180 with the locatingpin182, chilled liquid inlet andoutlet ports184, electrical and data connectors (CANbus)186, and thecondensate drainage outlets188.
• The embodiment shown inFIG. 5 depicts a variation of the embodiment shown inFIGS. 3 and 4 where theE box185 is installed in thechilling module150,separate defrost fans160 are employed, and there is a partial re-arrangement of the major components. The base plate mounts all major components including air supply and return ports, as well as the condensate drain.
• FIG. 6 illustrates a variation of the CIWD configuration where the axial fans have been replaced by scroll orperiphery fans200, and the air is supplied to the work deck area from a conventional air chiller mounted on top of the galley. In this embodiment, there is no heat exchanger or E box mounted in the chilling module, although the fan could be speed controllable from a remote source.
• Air distribution is achieved using amodular ductwork205 or by a common plenum at the rear of the work deck that mates with the chilling module. The chilled air return duct at the rear of thecart bay210 connects with a return above work deck (AWD)duct220 on the back wall of the galley, that returns the air to the air chiller. The chilledair supply duct225 connects the air chiller to the distribution ductwork with the work deck area to the air chiller. The below work deck (BWD) chilledair return duct210 and chilledair supply outlet240 are similar in design to the other configurations. Avertical services column245 is provided above work deck.
• FIGS. 7 and 8 show a work deck chilling system and system layout for both the air chiller supplied (FIG. 7) and chilled liquid supplied (FIG. 8) through work deck galley refrigeration systems. The schematics show the components used in the air chiller supplied Chiller In Work Deck (CIWD) system.7aillustrates the over laidair supply duct300 that leads down from theair chiller310 on top of the galley to the common air distribution plenum. The air fed system differs from the liquid in that the work deck area splits to form the two halves of the ducting necessary to distribute the air between the separate cart bays. Balance is achieved using interchangeable tapered restrictors320 (FIG. 7c) to provide differing proportions of air to each cart depending on the galley configuration.
• FIG. 7billustrates the AWD (above work deck) air return duct that is mounted on the back wall of the galley. Thisduct325 connects to the below work deck (BWD) chilledair return ducts330.FIG. 7dillustrates the position of theair chiller310 on top of the galley, where this design utilizes ahorizontal service area340 between the standard containers (meal boxes) forming the upper storage compartments and the chilled air supply and return passes345. The position of thechiller310 in this instance is designed to meet the requirements of a center line aircraft galley. In a lateral or aft galley complex that is installed the air chiller may well be mounted below the airplane floor or behind the galley. In this case, the air distribution through the work deck is maintained although the supply and return duct work and possibly on the outside of the envelope of the galley.FIG. 7dalso illustrates the through work deckair distribution ducting350.
• FIG. 8aillustrates the chilledliquid supply360 and returnmanifold pipe work370 at the back of the galley chilled cart compartment, which terminates in the CIWD module interface block.FIG. 8billustrates the side view of the CIWD module and cart within the compartment below the work deck.
• The present invention may include 34″ or 35″ deep refrigerated center-line galleys (installed along the centerline of the aircraft) by utilizing the work deck cavity as a means of circulating chilled air around a cart or trolley compartment. The invention utilizes the potential of the work deck cavity as a location to horizontally mount a refrigeration module (LRU) containing a heat exchanger, fan, fluid control valve and electronic control system that is capable of chilling the cart compartments to the required temperature using chilled liquid as a cooling medium. The present invention further utilizes the potential of the work deck area as a location of duct work for distribution of chilled air produced by a vapor cycle type air chiller mounted on, in or remotely from, the galley.
• It will be apparent from the foregoing that while particular forms of the invention have been illustrated and described, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited but rather all modifications and substitutions that would be recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art are intended to be included in the scope of the invention.

Claims (14)

What is claimed is:

1. A modular chiller for an aircraft galley trolley compartment disposed below a galley work deck, comprising:

an enclosure for one or more components configured to chill air circulating throughout the trolley compartment, the enclosure configured to be removably inserted into the trolley compartment horizontally mounted proximate to an upper surface of the trolley compartment;

a heat exchanger for chilling air entering the enclosure from the trolley compartment through one or more air return ports;

at least one fan for directing air flow through the enclosure, wherein a speed of the at least one fan is controllable by a controller thereby causing adjustment in a volume of the air passing through the heat exchanger; and

a plurality of connection ports configured to couple the modular chiller to one or more aircraft systems, the connection ports including quick disconnect connections for aircraft line replacement units, wherein the plurality of connection ports comprise at least one connection port for supplying liquid refrigerant to the modular chiller.

2. The modular chiller ofclaim 1, wherein a lower surface of the enclosure, when removably inserted into the trolley compartment, is configured to be disposed adjacent to a trolley housed within the trolley compartment.

3. The modular chiller ofclaim 2, further comprising a connection block disposed on a rear surface of the modular chiller, the connection block including the connection ports configured to couple the modular chiller to the one or more aircraft systems.

4. The modular chiller ofclaim 2, wherein the connection ports further include at least one of an electrical connector, a condensate drain, and a locating pin.

5. The modular chiller ofclaim 2, further comprising a control valve coupled to the heat exchanger, the control valve configured to control a supply of liquid refrigerant to the heat exchanger.

6. The modular chiller ofclaim 2, wherein the heat exchanger includes a convergent supply duct configured to couple an outlet of the heat exchanger to the fan.

7. The modular chiller ofclaim 6, further comprising a condensate collection tray configured to divert collected condensate at the heat exchanger toward a condensate drain.

8. The modular chiller ofclaim 2, wherein the enclosure includes one or more air return ports configured to mate to a plenum disposed along a rear wall of the trolley compartment when the enclosure is removably inserted within the trolley compartment.

9. The modular chiller ofclaim 8, wherein the plenum further includes a plurality of apertures disposed on a surface of the plenum, the plurality of apertures configured to promote a substantially uniform air distribution around the one or more trolleys housed within the trolley compartment.

10. An aircraft galley trolley compartment cooling system, comprising:

a trolley compartment below a galley work deck, the trolley compartment housing a plurality of trolleys;

a modular chiller unit mounted in the galley trolley compartment above the trolleys, the modular chiller including a fan, a heat exchanger, an air supply outlet, and a fan speed control; and

a plenum against a rear wall of the galley trolley compartment including an air return path leading from the bottom of the trolley compartment to the modular chiller above the trolley, the plenum including apertures vertically spaced along a front surface to allow return air to enter the return air path along various elevations of the plenum,

wherein the modular chiller includes two return air inlets that each include condensate drainage, and a three way bypass valve disposed between two heat exchangers that each have a reflector, and an axial fan having a connected deflectors.

11. The aircraft galley trolley compartment cooling system ofclaim 10, wherein the modular chiller further comprises a connection block having an electrical connector, a condensate drain, a locating pin, and a liquid input/output port on a control surface opposed to the rear of the bay.

12. The aircraft galley trolley compartment cooling system ofclaim 10, wherein the modular chiller circulates a liquid refrigerant and the liquid refrigerant is poly-glycol water.

13. The aircraft galley trolley compartment cooling system ofclaim 10, wherein a sensor in the bay signals a condition in the bay that is used by an electronic control box to adjust a speed of the fan.

14. The aircraft galley trolley compartment cooling system ofclaim 10, wherein the modular chiller is cantilevered over the trolley when the trolley is positioned within the bay.

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